Right and Wrong, Black and White

A few weeks ago, Abington Memorial Hospital announced it intend to form a joint venture with a nearby smaller hospital, Holy Redeemer. The new secular venture would be a stronger organization and well positioned to provide community health care in this Pennsylvania region north of Philadelphia. The “man bites dog” part of the announcement and why the story has remained “news” was Abington would stop providing abortions in deference to the wishes of Catholic “Holy Redeemer” partner.

The JV was to be a secular hospital and yet it would not offer abortion services. To the Catholic Church, this is a right-wrong decision and as clear to decide as black and white.

Today it was reported that almost 200 Abington staff doctors oppose the merger and are considering leaving the hospital if the venture goes through. The doctors reasoning is that they do not want to be part of a hospital practice where medically accepted procedures are prohibited. In other words, the doctors want to treat patients first.

In a totally different setting, candidate Mitt Romney addressed the NAACP yesterday. He certainly showed courage and did the right thing to speak at their convention. His speech also contained elements that might be correct. He told the audience that they were looking at the person who could help blacks the most. He then raced on to say he would repeal “ObamaCare” (Affordable Care Act) as soon as possible. He drew boos for that promise.

Forgetting for a moment whether Romney was speaking to his audience or sending a message to his base, the question is open, “is President Obama or the Affordable Care Act best for blacks”?

The world Romney was seeking lies in between right and wrong, and black and white. It is hard to imagine a sea change for blacks if the economy sputters along like it is now. And, the ACA is going to be a battle ground as long as Republicans want to obstruct its implementation.

What was missing yesterday and has been missing through out Romney’s campaign was specifics. What exactly is going to make life better for Americans and especially blacks? Why will “job creators” suddenly hire blacks?

The biggest question and potentially a significant liability for Romney is the “replace’ part of “repeal and replace”. He offered no insight into how he would provided “pre-existing condition protection”, how he would include family members up to the age of 26 on insurance coverage, how he would make affordable health insurance available, and for the poorest of the African-American community, how would he provide medical care.

The Abington doctors have got it “right”, the Holy Redeemer demands are wrong. It’s as simple as black and white.

Mitt Romney was right to speak the same speech he would give to the NRA and got it wrong with offering no plan if we were able to repeal ACA. That’s black and white.

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